Corporate Giving - Not just a CSR policy

A survey of 1,100 people from across the UK found that 89% thought businesses should support charities and their local communities. Although 74% of people said their workplace had an effective corporate social responsibility policy, only 21% of people regularly take part in charitable activities through their jobs.

Charitable corporate giving is something Venn Group has been involved with since our inception in 2001; in the last 4 years alone, with the help of employees we have managed to raise over £80,000 for the charities our employees have nominated and voted for.

This year alone we have already managed to raise over £6,000 for Alzheimer’s Society. Recently a group of employees took part in the Kew Richmond 10K River Run and managed to raise over £1,000 – an amazing team achievement. We also have seven employees across the company due to abseil from the Arcelormittal Orbit in Stratford – the UK’s tallest sculpture at 262ft! And on the 21st September we will be holding our annual charity day across each of our seven offices, a day where the money we raise makes up the majority of our annual total.

In the UK the majority of corporate giving is made up of cash – 77%; however non-financial support is of equal importance. At Venn Group, we often get involved in non-financial means of support with our charity partners, such as staff volunteering, meeting room hire and CV writing workshops for service users where possible.

Any type of charitable giving – financial and non-financial – is not only beneficial for the charity but can also have many positive impacts for the company, far more than just ticking the box of having a CSR policy. For example:

Job satisfaction - It has been found that including employees in charity decisions can help increase job satisfaction. Each year our chosen charity is voted for by our employees and each employee can volunteer to be part of the charity committee who are responsible for organising our charitable events and activities throughout the year.

Employee engagement – It has been suggested that charitable giving improves employee engagement by boosting productivity, ethical behaviour and pride in their work. At Venn Group we ensure our employees are at the heart of the corporate partnerships we have with our charities, with a dedicated charity committee of employees from across the company.

Teamwork – A charity fundraiser or volunteering program often brings together people from all levels of the organisation and everyone feels like they are working together towards a common goal – in our case all employees working at Venn Group are working towards a common goal of raising £20,000 for Alzheimer’s Society. This feeling of effective teamwork can extend beyond the event to positively influence other aspects of the work place.

As an employee of Venn Group, I am proud of the work we do each year with our chosen charity partners, ensuring we build a successful partnership that not only has far reaching positive impacts for the charity but also for Venn Group and its employees.